Post by "Pop" Stran on Oct 29, 2020 17:23:31 GMT -5
For starters, nearly every one of the Hit & Run ads with flashy videos showing some must-have widget is pushing a $2 gadget from AliExpress marked up to $20 or more.
To make that better, the Number 1 complaint from customers is the classic Bait & Switch scam, wherein the video showed some advanced version of the cheap junk they are actually shipping out to customers.
Somewhere in the fine print was a disclaimer stating that the "premium model is out of stock" and they reserve the right to substitute a lesser model. Not a single customer has ever noticed this warning, as was planned by the seller.
Neither Facebook nor Twitter are screening these sellers, which has created a Wild West scenario for Chinese scammers who have been flooding social media with thousands of glitzy video ads for cheap Chinese widgets from novelty toys to reading glasses, from sink plugs to knock-off drones. The last one that caught my eye was for a $1200 kayak, boasting the price of $199. Impossible, right? It costs that much to ship it (I've shopped kayaks recently).
Once I hunted down their terms page, I found that you were actually paying $1600 for the kayak, and when you hit the "Buy Now" button you were agreeing to pay $199 down and $99/month for 14 months. Only then would you actually get your kayak, assuming of course that they didn't just vanish with your payments after 12 months. The average lifespan of these flash-in-the-pan dealers is 90 days, after all, just long enough for hundreds of complaints to catch up to them.
Testing phases have shown a reliable 75% of these gadget ads to be fraudulent. More than half of the disappointing products fell in the Bait & Switch heading.
For Example:
- I ordered a pair of Advanced German blue light blocking lightweight frame computer glasses, at $21. I received a pair of foldable reading glasses in heavy plastic frames, worth about $5 at CVS. They look it, too.
- I ordered a ($90 value) cellphone hand mount with auto-tracking and motorized pan & zoom features for $39. I received a cheap plastic tripod worth no more than $3 at most dollar stores.
Summary:
There are a few honorable sellers using social media to hawk their wares, but they are being swarmed and buried by a flood of scammers and snake oil salesmen.
Unless you enjoy foolish waste of your precious dollars, my advice would be to avoid these fly by night social media ads. The old Grab bag surprise from decades ago was kinda fun; you got a random treat, and the not knowing part was pretty cool. But this new type of grab bag is nothing pleasant. You feel ripped off every time it happens, which has recently become the vast majority of the time.
To make that better, the Number 1 complaint from customers is the classic Bait & Switch scam, wherein the video showed some advanced version of the cheap junk they are actually shipping out to customers.
Somewhere in the fine print was a disclaimer stating that the "premium model is out of stock" and they reserve the right to substitute a lesser model. Not a single customer has ever noticed this warning, as was planned by the seller.
Neither Facebook nor Twitter are screening these sellers, which has created a Wild West scenario for Chinese scammers who have been flooding social media with thousands of glitzy video ads for cheap Chinese widgets from novelty toys to reading glasses, from sink plugs to knock-off drones. The last one that caught my eye was for a $1200 kayak, boasting the price of $199. Impossible, right? It costs that much to ship it (I've shopped kayaks recently).
Once I hunted down their terms page, I found that you were actually paying $1600 for the kayak, and when you hit the "Buy Now" button you were agreeing to pay $199 down and $99/month for 14 months. Only then would you actually get your kayak, assuming of course that they didn't just vanish with your payments after 12 months. The average lifespan of these flash-in-the-pan dealers is 90 days, after all, just long enough for hundreds of complaints to catch up to them.
Testing phases have shown a reliable 75% of these gadget ads to be fraudulent. More than half of the disappointing products fell in the Bait & Switch heading.
For Example:
- I ordered a pair of Advanced German blue light blocking lightweight frame computer glasses, at $21. I received a pair of foldable reading glasses in heavy plastic frames, worth about $5 at CVS. They look it, too.
- I ordered a ($90 value) cellphone hand mount with auto-tracking and motorized pan & zoom features for $39. I received a cheap plastic tripod worth no more than $3 at most dollar stores.
Summary:
There are a few honorable sellers using social media to hawk their wares, but they are being swarmed and buried by a flood of scammers and snake oil salesmen.
Unless you enjoy foolish waste of your precious dollars, my advice would be to avoid these fly by night social media ads. The old Grab bag surprise from decades ago was kinda fun; you got a random treat, and the not knowing part was pretty cool. But this new type of grab bag is nothing pleasant. You feel ripped off every time it happens, which has recently become the vast majority of the time.